Method and apparatus for managing battery

ABSTRACT

A battery managing apparatus includes a battery controller configured to determine a time when a battery enters a steady state based on a charge and discharge current of the battery that is measured in response to a switching of a charge and discharge circuit connected to the battery. The apparatus further includes a time controller configured to wake up the battery controller based on the time when the battery enters the steady state, the battery controller being controlled based on the switching of the charge and discharge circuit. The battery controller is configured to control the battery in response to the time controller waking up the battery controller.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(a) of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2014-0065961, filed on May 30, 2014, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The following description relates to a method and an apparatus formanaging a battery.

2. Description of Related Art

Electric vehicles are garnering substantial attention as a future meansof transportation while issues related to environment and energyresources are becoming more prominent. An electric vehicle uses, as amain power source, a battery in which chargeable and dischargeablesecondary cells form a pack, and thus, emits no exhaust, and anassociated amount of noise is to a large extent reduced.

The battery for the electric vehicle may function as an engine and afuel tank of a gasoline-powered vehicle. Thus, the battery may need tobe managed more accurately and effectively. Accordingly, research on amethod of verifying a state of the battery more accurately andincreasing efficiency of the electric vehicle is ongoing.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

In one general aspect, there is provided a battery managing apparatus,including a battery controller configured to determine a time when abattery enters a steady state based on a charge and discharge current ofthe battery that is measured in response to a switching of a charge anddischarge circuit connected to the battery, and a time controllerconfigured to wake up the battery controller based on the time when thebattery enters the steady state, the battery controller being controlledbased on the switching of the charge and discharge circuit. The batterycontroller is further configured to control the battery in response tothe time controller waking up the battery controller.

The battery controller may be further configured to measure the chargeand discharge current of the battery at a time when a switch of thecharge and discharge circuit is turned off or immediately prior to theswitch being turned off.

The battery controller may be configured to determine the time when thebattery enters the steady state by comparing the charge and dischargecurrent to predetermined reference information.

The apparatus may further include a driving power supplier configured tosupply driving power to the battery controller. The time controller maybe configured to wake up the battery controller by transmitting a wakeupsignal to the driving power supplier.

The driving power supplier may be configured to supply the driving powerto the battery controller in response to receiving the wakeup signal.

The battery controller may be further configured to set a wakeup cyclebased on the time when the battery enters the steady state. The timecontroller may be configured to wake up the battery controller based onthe wakeup cycle.

The apparatus may further include a balancing unit configured to measurevoltages of cells included in the battery, and perform balancing on thecells in response to the battery controller controlling the battery.

The battery controller may be further configured to calculate a voltagedeviation between the cells based on the voltages, and control thebalancing unit to perform the balancing on the cells in response to thevoltage deviation being greater than a predetermined voltage.

The balancing unit may include resistors connected respectively to thecells, and the battery controller may be further configured to controlthe balancing unit to apply power of remaining cells, excluding a cellhaving a lowest voltage among the cells, to resistors connectedrespectively to the remaining cells to allow respective voltages of theremaining cells to be a voltage of the cell having the lowest voltage.

The balancing unit may include a temperature measurer configured tomeasure a temperature of the resistors, and the battery controller maybe further configured to control the balancing unit to perform thebalancing on the cells in response to the measured temperature beingless than a predetermined temperature.

The battery controller may be further configured to detect a state ofcharge of the battery in response to the time controller waking up thebattery controller.

The apparatus may further include a voltage measurer configured tomeasure an open circuit voltage of the battery. The battery controllermay be configured to detect the state of charge of the battery based onthe measured open circuit voltage.

The battery controller may be further configured to detect a state ofhealth of the battery in response to the time controller waking up thebattery controller.

The apparatus may further include a resistance measurer configured tomeasure an internal resistance of the battery. The battery controllermay be configured to detect the state of health of the battery based onthe measured internal resistance.

The battery controller may be further configured to store information ofthe control of the battery.

In still another general aspect, there is provided an operating methodof a battery managing apparatus, the method including determining a timewhen a battery enters a steady state based on a charge and dischargecurrent of the battery that is measured in response to a switching of acharge and discharge circuit connected to the battery, setting a periodof time during which the battery managing apparatus is woken up based onthe time when the battery enters the steady state, the battery managingapparatus being controlled based on the switching of the charge anddischarge circuit, and controlling the battery in response to thebattery managing apparatus being woken up.

The method may further include measuring the charge and dischargecurrent of the battery at a time when a switch of the charge anddischarge circuit is turned off or immediately prior to the switch beingturned off.

The controlling may include measuring voltages of cells included in thebattery, and performing balancing on the cells based on the measuredvoltages.

The controlling may include measuring an open circuit voltage of thebattery, and detecting a state of charge of the battery based on themeasured open circuit voltage.

The controlling may include measuring an internal resistance of thebattery, and detecting a state of health of the battery based on themeasured internal resistance.

Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detaileddescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a battery managingapparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a battery system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wakeup cycle.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operating method ofa battery managing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another example of an operatingmethod of a battery managing apparatus.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwisedescribed or provided, the same drawing reference numerals will beunderstood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. Thedrawings may not be to scale, and the relative size, proportions, anddepiction of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity,illustration, and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader ingaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses,and/or systems described herein. However, various changes,modifications, and equivalents of the systems, apparatuses and/ormethods described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art. The progression of processing steps and/or operations describedis an example; however, the sequence of and/or operations is not limitedto that set forth herein and may be changed as is known in the art, withthe exception of steps and/or operations necessarily occurring in acertain order. Also, descriptions of functions and constructions thatare well known to one of ordinary skill in the art may be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness.

The features described herein may be embodied in different forms, andare not to be construed as being limited to the examples describedherein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided so thatthis disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will convey the fullscope of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a battery managingapparatus 110. Referring to FIG. 1, a battery system 100 includes thebattery managing apparatus 110, a battery 140, a charge and dischargecircuit 150, and a load 160.

The battery managing apparatus 110 includes a battery controller 120 anda time controller 130. The battery managing apparatus 110 controls thebattery 140. The battery 140 may supply power to a driving means, forexample, an electric vehicle and an electric bicycle, to which thebattery 140 is provided, and include battery modules. A battery modulemay include cells. A cell may be a secondary cell such as a lithium-ionbattery. Capacities or voltages of the cells may be identical ordifferent.

The battery managing apparatus 110 monitors a state of the battery 140,and controls the battery 140 based on the monitored state. The batterymanaging apparatus 110 may refer to a battery management system (BMS).

The battery managing apparatus 110 may control heat of the batterymodules included in the battery 140. The battery managing apparatus 110may prevent overcharging and over-discharging of the battery modules,and control charge states of the battery modules to be equivalent. Thus,an energy efficiency of the battery modules may increase, and a lifespanof the battery modules may be prolonged.

Also, the battery managing apparatus 110 may detect a state of health(SoH), a state of charge (SoC), and a state of function (SoF) of thebattery 140. The SoH may indicate a degree of deterioration inperformance of the battery 140 compared to a state at a time ofmanufacturing. The SoC of the battery 140 may indicate information of anamount of charge received by the battery 140, and the SoF may indicateinformation as to whether the performance of the battery 140 satisfies apredetermined condition.

The battery managing apparatus 110 may provide, to an electronic controlunit (ECU), health information, charge information, and functioninformation of the battery 140. The battery managing apparatus 110 maycommunicate with the ECU, using controller area network (CAN)communication.

The battery controller 120 controls the battery managing apparatus 110.The battery controller 120 may include a micro control unit (MCU), andcontrol other units included in the battery managing apparatus 110.

The battery 140 is connected to the charge and discharge circuit 150,and charging and discharging of the battery 140 is controlled by aswitching operation of the charge and discharge circuit 150. Forexample, when an ignition key of a driving means is turned on, a switchof the charge and discharge circuit 150 may be turned on. Accordingly,the battery 140 may be connected to the load 160 or an external powersource (not shown), and thus, the charging and discharging of thebattery 140 may be performed. Also, the battery controller 120 may bedriven to monitor a state of the battery 140, and control the battery140. Conversely, when the ignition key of the driving means is turnedoff, the switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 may be turnedoff. Accordingly, the battery 140 may be disconnected from the load 160or the external power source, and thus, the charging and discharging ofthe battery 140 may be suspended. Also, an operation of the batterycontroller 120 may be suspended.

When the switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 connected to thebattery 140 is turned off, an operating mode of the battery controller120 may enter a sleep mode. The operating mode may include a generalmode, the sleep mode, and a wakeup mode. The general mode may indicate amode in which the battery controller 120 controls the battery 140 whenthe switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 is turned on. Thesleep mode may indicate a mode in which the battery controller 120enters an idle state when the switch of the charge and discharge circuit150 is turned off. The wakeup mode may indicate a mode in which thebattery controller 120 temporarily controls the battery 140 during theswitch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 being turned off. Thewakeup mode may operate with a lower amount of power in comparison tothe general mode.

The battery controller 120 may measure an amount of charge and dischargecurrent of the battery 140, using a current measurer (not shown), whenthe switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 is turned off orimmediately prior to the switch being turned off. The current measurermay be included in the battery 140 or in the battery managing apparatus110. For example, when the switch of the charge and discharge circuit150 is turned off, the battery 140 may suspend the charging anddischarging simultaneously, and the operation of the battery controller120 may be suspended after a predetermined amount of time elapses afterthe charging and discharging of the battery 140 is suspended. Thebattery controller 120 may measure the amount of the charge anddischarge current of the battery 140 when the switch of the charge anddischarge circuit is turned off. Also, the battery controller 120 mayconstantly monitor the amount of the charge and discharge current of thebattery 140 while the switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 isin an on state. The battery controller 120 may detect the switch of thecharge and discharge circuit 150 being turned off, and extract an amountof current charged and discharged to the battery 140 immediately priorto the switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 being turned off.

The battery controller 120 determines a point in time at which thebattery 140 enters a steady state, using the measured amount of thecharge and discharge current of the battery 140. The steady stateindicates a state in which the battery 140 is electrically stable. Whenthe switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 is turned off and thecharging and the discharging of the battery 140 is suspended, thebattery 140 may be electrically unstable for a predetermined amount oftime, and become electrically stable to enter the steady state after apredetermined amount of time elapses. The point in time at which thebattery 140 enters the steady state may vary based on an amount ofcharge and discharge current measured immediately before the chargingand discharging of the battery 140 is suspended. For example, a greateramount of time may be used for the battery 140 to enter the steady statewhen the amount of charge and discharge current is large than when theamount of charge and discharge current is small.

Also, the battery controller 120 may obtain the point in time at whichthe battery 140 enters the steady state by comparing the amount ofcharge and discharge current of the battery 140 to predeterminedreference information. The predetermined reference information mayindicate information of a point in time at which the battery 140 entersthe steady state based on an amount of charge and discharge current ofthe battery 140, and be calculated in advance and stored in the batterycontroller 120. The predetermined reference information may include alookup table storing the information of the point in time at which thebattery 140 enters the steady state, which is to be mapped to the amountof charge and discharge current. Accordingly, the battery controller 120may measure the amount of charge and discharge current of the battery140 at a point in time when the switch of the charge and dischargecircuit 150 is turned off or immediately prior to the switch beingturned off, search the lookup take, extract a point in time mapped tothe measured amount of the charge and discharge current, and determinethe extracted point in time as the point in time at which the battery140 enters the steady state.

The time controller 130 may include a real time clock (RTC). The timecontroller 130 may measure or maintain time, and normally operatedespite the switch of the charge and discharge circuit 150 being turnedoff.

The time controller 130 may wake up the battery controller 120 based onthe point in time at which the battery 140 enters the steady state. Thewaking up may indicate an operation to switch the operating mode of thebattery controller 120 from the sleep mode to the wakeup mode.

The battery managing apparatus 110 may include a driving power supplier(not shown). The driving power supplier may supply driving power to thebattery controller 120. For example, the driving power supplier mayinclude a voltage regulator, and supply the driving power to the batterycontroller 120 by converting a voltage provided from an external powersource to a voltage to be input to the battery controller 120. The timecontroller 130 may transmit a wakeup signal to the driving powersupplier. The driving power supplier may supply the driving power to thebattery controller 120 in response to the wakeup signal.

The time controller 130 may wake up the battery controller 120 based ona wakeup cycle. The time controller 130 may transmit the wakeup signalto the driving power supplier based on the wakeup cycle. The drivingpower supplier may transmit the driving power to the battery controller120 when the wakeup signal is being received. Also, the driving powersupplier may not transmit the driving power to the battery controller120 when the wakeup signal is not being received.

The battery controller 120 may set the wakeup cycle based on the pointin time at which the battery 140 enters the steady state. For example,when an amount of time used for the battery 140 to enter the steadystate is set to be five minutes, the battery controller 120 maydetermine the wakeup cycle to be five minutes, and input the determinedwakeup cycle to the time controller 120.

When the time controller 130 wakes up the battery controller 120, theoperating mode of the battery controller 120 may be converted to thewakeup mode, and the battery controller 120 may control the battery 140during the wakeup mode. When the charging and discharging of the battery140 is suspended, the battery 140 may be in a no-load state. When thebattery 140 enters the steady state, the battery 140 may becomeelectrically stable. When the battery 140 is electrically stable, astate of the battery 140 may be accurately detected. Accordingly, thebattery controller 120 may optimize or monitor the state of the battery140 in the wakeup mode.

The battery controller 120 may perform balancing on the cells includedin the battery 140 in the wakeup mode. When charging and discharging isperformed repeatedly on the cells, a voltage deviation may occur betweenthe cells. When the voltage deviation occurs, overcharging orover-discharging of a cell may occur. When the overcharging orover-discharging occurs, a capacity of the battery 140 may be reduced,and a lifespan of the battery 140 may be curtailed. Accordingly, tomaintain the voltage deviation between the cells to be constant, thebattery controller 120 may perform the balancing on the cells. When thebattery 140 is not electrically stable, voltages of the cells includedin the battery 140 may not be accurately measured, and thus, precisebalancing may not be performed. Thus, the battery controller 120 mayperform the balancing on the cells in the wakeup mode in which thebattery 140 enters the steady state. Also, the battery controller 120may perform the balancing on the cells based on the wakeup cycle. Forexample, when the wakeup cycle is set to be five minutes, the operatingmode of the battery controller 120 may alternate between the wakeup modeand the sleep mode every five minutes. When a period of 50 minutes isneeded to perform the balancing on the cells, the battery controller 120may repeat, 10 times, operations of performing the balancing on thecells in the wakeup mode and suspending the balancing on the cells inthe sleep mode.

The battery controller 120 may detect the SoC or the SoH of the battery140 in the wakeup mode. The battery controller 120 may measure an opencircuit voltage of the battery 140 to detect the SoC of the battery 140,and measure an internal resistance of the battery 140 to detect the SoH.When the battery controller 120 is in the wakeup mode, the battery 140may be in the steady state. Accordingly, the open circuit voltage or theinternal resistance of the battery 140 may be more accurately measuredin the wakeup mode than when the charging and discharging of the battery140 is performed. The battery controller 120 may detect the SoC or theSoH of the battery 140, using the predetermined reference information.For example, the battery controller 120 may include a lookup table inwhich information of the SoC of the battery 140 based on the opencircuit voltage of the battery 140 is stored. The SoC of the battery 140may vary based on the open circuit voltage of the battery 140. The SoCof the battery 140 based on the open circuit voltage of the battery 140may be calculated in advance and stored in the lookup table. The batterycontroller 120 may extract state information mapped to the measured opencircuit voltage by searching the lookup table, and determine theextracted state information to be the SoC of the battery 140.

For another example, the battery controller 120 may include a lookuptable in which information of the SoH of the battery 140 based on theinternal resistance of the battery 140 is stored. The SoH of the battery140 based on the internal resistance of the battery 140 may becalculated in advance and stored in the lookup table. The batterycontroller 120 may extract lifespan information mapped to the measuredinternal resistance by searching the lookup table, and determine theextracted lifespan information to be the SoH of the battery 140.

The SoC or the SoH of the battery 140 detected after the battery 140enters the steady state may be more accurate than the SoC or the SoH ofthe battery 140 detected during charging or discharging. Accordingly,the battery controller 120 may update information of the SoC or the SoHof the battery 140 detected during charging or discharging to beinformation detected after the battery 140 enters the steady state.

In the wakeup mode, the battery controller 120 may extract other stateinformation of the battery 140, in addition to the SoC and SoH of thebattery 140. For example, the battery controller 120 may extract atravelable distance of the driving means to which the battery 140 isprovided, using the SoC and the SoH of the battery 140 and predeterminedinformation, for example, road information.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a battery system 200.Referring to FIG. 2, the battery system 200 includes a battery pack 210and a battery managing apparatus 220.

The battery pack 210 includes at least one battery module. Asillustrated in FIG. 2, the battery pack 210 includes a single batterymodule 211 for convenience of description, but is not limited thereto.The battery module 211 includes cells. The cells are connected inseries.

The battery pack 210 may be connected to a charge and discharge circuit(not shown), and charging and discharging of the battery pack 210 may becontrolled by a switching operation of the charge and discharge circuit.For example, when an ignition key of a driving means to which thebattery system 200 is provided is turned on, a switch of the charge anddischarge circuit may be turned on, and the charging and discharging ofthe battery pack 210 may be performed. Conversely, when the ignition keyof the driving means is turned off, the switch of the charge anddischarge circuit may be turned off, and accordingly, the charging anddischarging of the battery pack 210 may be suspended.

The battery managing apparatus 220 includes a battery controller 230, adriving voltage supplier 240, a time controller 250, a balancing unit280, and an insulating unit 290. The driving voltage supplier 240 may bealso referred to as a driving power supplier described herein. Thebattery controller 230, the driving voltage supplier 240, and the timecontroller 250 are grounded to a ground 270.

The battery controller 230 controls the battery managing apparatus 220,and an operation of the battery controller 230 may be controlled basedon the switching operation of the charge and discharge circuit. Forexample, when the switch of the charge and discharge circuit is in an onstate, the battery controller 230 may operate. When the switch of thecharge and discharge circuit is in an off state, the operation of thebattery controller 230 may be suspended.

When the switch of the charge and discharge circuit is turned off andthe operation of the battery controller 230 is suspended, the timecontroller 250 may wake up the battery controller 230, using the drivingvoltage supplier 240. The time controller 250 may measure or maintaintime, and normally operate despite the switch of the charge anddischarge circuit being turned off. The battery controller 230 maymeasure an amount of charge and discharge current of the battery pack210, using a current measurer (not shown), when the switch of the chargeand discharge circuit is turned off or immediately prior to the switchbeing turned off. The battery controller 230 may calculate a point intime at which the battery pack 210 enters a steady state, using themeasured amount of charge and discharge current of the battery pack 210.The battery controller 230 may set a wakeup cycle based on the point intime at which the battery pack 210 enters the steady state. The batterycontroller 230 may input the set wakeup cycle to the time controller250.

The time controller 250 may transmit a wakeup signal to the drivingvoltage supplier 240 based on the wakeup cycle. The driving voltagesupplier 240 may include a voltage regulator (not shown). For example,the time controller 250 may transmit the wakeup signal to the drivingvoltage supplier 240, using an output pin 251 based on the wakeup cycle,and an enable pin 241 of the driving voltage supplier 240 may be in anon state due to the wakeup signal. When the enable pin 241 is in the onstate, the driving voltage supplier 240 may adjust a voltage providedfrom an external power source 260, for example, a lead storage battery,to be suitable for the battery controller 230, and provide the adjustedvoltage to the battery controller 230. For example, when external poweris a direct current (DC) power with 12 volts (V), and a voltage Vcc ofdriving power that may be input to the battery controller 230 is lessthan or equal to 5 V, the driving voltage supplier 240 may drop avoltage of the external power from 12 V to 5 V, and supply the drivingpower with the voltage Vcc of 5 V to the battery controller 230.

The battery controller 230 may operate during the driving power beingsupplied from the driving voltage supplier 240. When the batterycontroller 230 is not provided with the driving power from the drivingvoltage supplier 240, the operation of the battery controller 230 may besuspended. For example, when the wakeup cycle is set to be threeminutes, the battery controller 230 may receive the driving power fromthe driving power supplier 240 at an interval of three minutes. Thus,the battery controller 230 may alternate between the operation and thesuspension of the operation at three minute intervals.

The battery controller 230 may control a battery while the batterycontroller 230 is being woken up. In detail, the battery controller 230controls the balancing unit 280 to perform balancing on the cellsincluded in the battery pack 210. The balancing unit 280 measuresvoltages of the cells, and perform the balancing on the cells based onthe measured voltages. The balancing unit 280 may include an integratedcircuit (IC) that measures a voltage of a cell. When the battery pack210 is not electrically stable, the voltages of the cells included inthe battery pack 210 may not be accurately measured, and thus, precisebalancing may not be performed on the cells. Thus, the balancing unit280 may perform the balancing on the cells after the battery pack 210enters the steady state.

For example, voltage ports C0 to Cn of the balancing unit 280 may beconnected to cells included in the balancing unit 280. The balancingunit 280 may measure the voltages of the cells by receiving a voltage ofeach cell through the voltage ports. The balancing unit 280 may performthe balancing on the cells based on a voltage of a cell having a lowestvoltage among the cells. For example, each cell may be connected to aresistor. The balancing unit 280 may apply electrical energy ofremaining cells, excluding the cell having the lowest voltage among thecells, to a resistor connected to each of the remaining cells to allowrespective voltages of the remaining cells to be the voltage of the cellhaving the lowest voltage among the cells. Accordingly, the voltages ofthe cells may be identical to the voltage of the cell having the lowestvoltage among the cells.

The battery controller 230 transmits a control signal to the balancingunit 280. The balancing unit 280 measures the voltages of the cellsbased on the control signal, and transmits, to the battery controller230, information of the measured voltages of the cells. The balancingunit 280 may be connected to the battery pack 210 to be a high voltage,and the battery controller 230 may be a low voltage. When the balancingunit 280 transmits, to the battery controller 230, the information ofthe voltages of the cells, an error of transmission of the informationmay occur. For example, when the balancing unit 280 and the batterycontroller 230 are not electrically separated, and the balancing unit280 transmits data including the information of the voltages of thecells to the battery controller 230, an electrical potential of a ground(not shown) to which the battery pack 210 is grounded may fluctuate.When the electrical potential of the ground to which the battery pack210 is grounded fluctuates, the error may occur in the data to betransmitted from the balancing unit 280, and thus, the batterycontroller 230 may not obtain the information of the voltages of thecells. Thus, the insulating unit 290 is connected between the balancingunit 280 and the battery controller 230 to electrically separate thebalancing unit 280 and the battery controller 230. When the balancingunit 280 and the battery controller 230 are electrically separated bythe insulating unit 290, the balancing unit 280 may transmit theinformation of the voltages of the cells to the battery controller 230.

The battery controller 230 may determine whether to perform thebalancing on the cells, using a voltage deviation between the cells. Thebattery controller 230 may calculate the voltage deviation between thecells using the measured voltages of the cells. When the voltagedeviation between the cells is greater than a predetermined thresholdvoltage, the battery controller 230 may control the balancing unit 280to perform the balancing on the cells. When the voltage deviationbetween the cells is less than or equal to the predetermined thresholdvoltage, the battery controller 230 may control the balancing unit 280not to perform the balancing on the cells.

The battery controller 230 may determine whether to perform thebalancing on the cells, using a temperature of resistors connectedrespectively to the cells. When the balancing is performed, heat may begenerated in a resistor to which electrical energy is applied. When anexcessive amount of the heat is generated in the resistor, performanceof the resistor may be reduced. The balancing unit 280 may include atemperature measurer (not shown) to measure the temperature of theresistors. The balancing unit 280 may measure the temperature of theresistors connected respectively to the cells, using the temperaturemeasurer. When the temperature of the resistors is less than apredetermined threshold temperature, the battery controller 230 maycontrol the balancing unit 280 to perform the balancing on the cells.When the temperature of the resistors is greater than or equal to thepredetermined threshold temperature, the battery controller 230 maycontrol the balancing unit 280 to suspend the balancing on the cells.The battery controller 230 may perform the balancing on the cells basedon the wakeup cycle.

The battery controller 230 may measure an open circuit voltage of thebattery pack 210, using a voltage measurer (not shown), and detect anSoC of the battery pack 210 based on the measured open circuit voltageof the battery pack 210. Also, the battery controller 230 may measure aninternal resistance of the battery pack 210, using a resistance measurer(not shown), and detect an SoH of the battery pack 210 based on themeasured internal resistance of the battery pack 210.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wakeup cycle. Referringto FIG. 3, a battery managing apparatus may include a battery controllerand a time controller, and control a battery. The battery may beconnected to a charge and discharge circuit, and charging anddischarging of the battery may be controlled based on a switchingoperation of the charge and discharge circuit. At a point in time“t_(a)”, an ignition key of a driving means to which the battery isprovided may be turned off, and a switch of the charge and dischargecircuit may be turned off. Accordingly, the charging and discharging ofthe battery may be suspended, and an operation of the battery controllermay be suspended. At t_(a), the battery controller may measure an amountof charge and discharge current of the battery, and calculate a periodof time during which the battery enters a steady state, using themeasured amount of charge and discharge current. The battery controllermay set a wakeup cycle based on the period of time during which thebattery enters the steady state. For example, the battery controller maycalculate a period of time “T₁” during which the battery enters thesteady state, and calculate a wakeup cycle “T₂” based on a predeterminedrule. The battery controller may input the set wakeup cycle to the timecontroller. After T₁ elapses from t_(a), at a point in time “t_(b),” thetime controller may wake up the battery controller at an interval of T₂.When the waking up is performed, the battery controller may control thebattery. For example, during the battery controller being woken up, thebattery controller may perform the balancing on cells included in thebattery, and detect an SoC or SoH of the battery. At a point in time“t_(c)”, the battery controller may complete the balancing performed onthe cells or detection of a state of the battery. The battery controllermay transmit a wakeup end signal to the time controller, and the timecontroller may suspend the waking up in response to the wakeup endsignal. At a point in time “t_(d)”, the ignition key of the drivingmeans may be turned on, and accordingly, the battery may perform thecharging and discharging, and the batter controller may operate.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operating method ofa battery managing apparatus. Referring to FIG. 4, in operation 410, thebattery managing apparatus determines a point in time at which a batteryenters a steady state based on an amount of charge and discharge currentof the battery measured in response to a switching operation of a chargeand discharge circuit connected to the battery.

In operation 420, the battery managing apparatus sets a period of timeduring which the battery managing apparatus is woken up based on thepoint in time at which the battery enters the steady state. Theoperation of the battery managing apparatus is controlled based on theswitching operation of the charge and discharge circuit.

In operation 430, the battery managing apparatus controls the batteryduring the battery managing apparatus being woken up.

Descriptions provided with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3 may beapplicable hereto, and thus, repeated descriptions will be omitted forconciseness.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another example of an operatingmethod of a battery managing apparatus. Referring to FIG. 5, inoperation 510, the battery managing apparatus determines a point in timeat which a battery enters a steady state based on an amount of chargeand discharge current of the battery measured in response to a switchingoperation of a charge and discharge circuit connected to the battery.When an ignition key of a driving means to which the battery is providedis turned off, and a switch of the charge and discharge circuit isturned off, charging and discharging of the battery may be suspended,and an operation of the battery managing apparatus may be suspended. Thebattery managing apparatus may measure the amount of charge anddischarge current of the battery at a point in time when the switch ofthe charge and discharge circuit is turned off or immediately prior tothe switch being turned off. The battery managing apparatus maydetermine the point in time at which the battery enters the steady stateby comparing the measured amount of the charge and discharge current topredetermined reference information.

In operation 520, the battery managing apparatus is woken up based onthe point in time at which the battery enters the steady state. Forexample, the battery managing apparatus may set a wakeup cycle based onthe point in time at which the battery enters the steady state, andoperate based on the set wakeup cycle.

When the battery managing apparatus is being woken up, the batterymanaging apparatus may perform balancing on cells included in thebattery, or detect an SoC or an SoH of the battery.

In an example, in operation 531, the battery managing apparatus extractsa voltage deviation between the cells by measuring voltages of thecells, and determines whether the voltage deviation between the cells isgreater than a predetermined threshold voltage. When the voltagedeviation is determined to be greater than the predetermined thresholdvoltage, in operation 532, the battery managing apparatus measures atemperature of resistors connected to the cells, and determines whetherthe temperature of the resistors is greater than a predeterminedthreshold temperature. When the temperature of the resistors isdetermined to be less than the predetermined threshold temperature, inoperation 533, the battery managing apparatus performs the balancing onthe cells.

In another example, in operation 541, the battery managing apparatusmeasures an open circuit voltage of the battery. In operation 542, thebattery managing apparatus detects the SoC of the battery, using themeasured open circuit voltage.

In still another example, in operation 551, the battery managingapparatus measures an internal resistance of the battery. In operation552, the battery managing apparatus detects the SoH of the battery,using the measured internal resistance.

In operation 561, the battery managing apparatus stores informationassociated with control of the battery. For example, the batterymanaging apparatus may store, in a memory included in the battery,information of a result of the balancing performed on the cells,information of the SoC of the battery, and/or information of the SoH ofthe battery.

Descriptions provided with reference to FIGS. 1 through 4 may beapplicable hereto, and thus, repeated descriptions will be omitted forconciseness.

The various units, modules, elements, and methods described above may beimplemented using one or more hardware components, one or more softwarecomponents, or a combination of one or more hardware components and oneor more software components.

A hardware component may be, for example, a physical device thatphysically performs one or more operations, but is not limited thereto.Examples of hardware components include microphones, amplifiers,low-pass filters, high-pass filters, band-pass filters,analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, andprocessing devices.

A software component may be implemented, for example, by a processingdevice controlled by software or instructions to perform one or moreoperations, but is not limited thereto. A computer, controller, or othercontrol device may cause the processing device to run the software orexecute the instructions. One software component may be implemented byone processing device, or two or more software components may beimplemented by one processing device, or one software component may beimplemented by two or more processing devices, or two or more softwarecomponents may be implemented by two or more processing devices.

A processing device may be implemented using one or more general-purposeor special-purpose computers, such as, for example, a processor, acontroller and an arithmetic logic unit, a digital signal processor, amicrocomputer, a field-programmable array, a programmable logic unit, amicroprocessor, or any other device capable of running software orexecuting instructions. The processing device may run an operatingsystem (OS), and may run one or more software applications that operateunder the OS. The processing device may access, store, manipulate,process, and create data when running the software or executing theinstructions. For simplicity, the singular term “processing device” maybe used in the description, but one of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that a processing device may include multiple processingelements and multiple types of processing elements. For example, aprocessing device may include one or more processors, or one or moreprocessors and one or more controllers. In addition, differentprocessing configurations are possible, such as parallel processors ormulti-core processors.

A processing device configured to implement a software component toperform an operation A may include a processor programmed to runsoftware or execute instructions to control the processor to performoperation A. In addition, a processing device configured to implement asoftware component to perform an operation A, an operation B, and anoperation C may have various configurations, such as, for example, aprocessor configured to implement a software component to performoperations A, B, and C; a first processor configured to implement asoftware component to perform operation A, and a second processorconfigured to implement a software component to perform operations B andC; a first processor configured to implement a software component toperform operations A and B, and a second processor configured toimplement a software component to perform operation C; a first processorconfigured to implement a software component to perform operation A, asecond processor configured to implement a software component to performoperation B, and a third processor configured to implement a softwarecomponent to perform operation C; a first processor configured toimplement a software component to perform operations A, B, and C, and asecond processor configured to implement a software component to performoperations A, B, and C, or any other configuration of one or moreprocessors each implementing one or more of operations A, B, and C.Although these examples refer to three operations A, B, C, the number ofoperations that may implemented is not limited to three, but may be anynumber of operations required to achieve a desired result or perform adesired task.

Software or instructions for controlling a processing device toimplement a software component may include a computer program, a pieceof code, an instruction, or some combination thereof, for independentlyor collectively instructing or configuring the processing device toperform one or more desired operations. The software or instructions mayinclude machine code that may be directly executed by the processingdevice, such as machine code produced by a compiler, and/or higher-levelcode that may be executed by the processing device using an interpreter.The software or instructions and any associated data, data files, anddata structures may be embodied permanently or temporarily in any typeof machine, component, physical or virtual equipment, computer storagemedium or device, or a propagated signal wave capable of providinginstructions or data to or being interpreted by the processing device.The software or instructions and any associated data, data files, anddata structures also may be distributed over network-coupled computersystems so that the software or instructions and any associated data,data files, and data structures are stored and executed in a distributedfashion.

For example, the software or instructions and any associated data, datafiles, and data structures may be recorded, stored, or fixed in one ormore non-transitory computer-readable storage media. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium may be any data storage device that iscapable of storing the software or instructions and any associated data,data files, and data structures so that they can be read by a computersystem or processing device. Examples of a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium include read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), flash memory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD+Rs, CD-RWs,CD+RWs, DVD-ROMs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, DVD-RWs, DVD+RWs, DVD-RAMs, BD-ROMs,BD-Rs, BD-R LTHs, BD-REs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, magneto-opticaldata storage devices, optical data storage devices, hard disks,solid-state disks, or any other non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium known to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing theexamples disclosed herein can be easily constructed by a programmerskilled in the art to which the examples pertain based on the drawingsand their corresponding descriptions as provided herein.

As a non-exhaustive illustration only, a terminal or device describedherein may refer to mobile devices such as a cellular phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, a portable game console, andan MP3 player, a portable/personal multimedia player (PMP), a handhelde-book, a portable laptop PC, a global positioning system (GPS)navigation, a tablet, a sensor, and devices such as a desktop PC, a highdefinition television (HDTV), an optical disc player, a setup box, ahome appliance, and the like that are capable of wireless communicationor network communication consistent with that which is disclosed herein.

While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made in these examples without departing from the spiritand scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples describedherein are to be considered in a descriptive sense only, and not forpurposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects in eachexample are to be considered as being applicable to similar features oraspects in other examples. Suitable results may be achieved if thedescribed techniques are performed in a different order, and/or ifcomponents in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit arecombined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by othercomponents or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosureis defined not by the detailed description, but by the claims and theirequivalents, and all variations within the scope of the claims and theirequivalents are to be construed as being included in the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery managing apparatus, comprising: abattery controller configured to determine a time when a battery entersa steady state based on a charge and discharge current of the batterythat is measured in response to a switching of a charge and dischargecircuit connected to the battery; and a time controller configured towake up the battery controller based on the time when the battery entersthe steady state, the battery controller being controlled based on theswitching of the charge and discharge circuit, wherein the batterycontroller is further configured to control the battery in response tothe time controller waking up the battery controller.
 2. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the battery controller is further configured to:measure the charge and discharge current of the battery at a time when aswitch of the charge and discharge circuit is turned off or immediatelyprior to the switch being turned off.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the battery controller is configured to: determine the time whenthe battery enters the steady state by comparing the charge anddischarge current to predetermined reference information.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a driving power supplierconfigured to supply driving power to the battery controller, whereinthe time controller is configured to wake up the battery controller bytransmitting a wakeup signal to the driving power supplier.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4, wherein the driving power supplier is configuredto: supply the driving power to the battery controller in response toreceiving the wakeup signal.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: thebattery controller is further configured to set a wakeup cycle based onthe time when the battery enters the steady state; and the timecontroller is configured to wake up the battery controller based on thewakeup cycle.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: abalancing unit configured to measure voltages of cells comprised in thebattery, and perform balancing on the cells in response to the batterycontroller controlling the battery.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, whereinthe battery controller is further configured to: calculate a voltagedeviation between the cells based on the voltages; and control thebalancing unit to perform the balancing on the cells in response to thevoltage deviation being greater than a predetermined voltage.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein: the balancing unit comprises resistorsconnected respectively to the cells; and the battery controller isfurther configured to control the balancing unit to apply power ofremaining cells, excluding a cell having a lowest voltage among thecells, to resistors connected respectively to the remaining cells toallow respective voltages of the remaining cells to be a voltage of thecell having the lowest voltage.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein:the balancing unit comprises a temperature measurer configured tomeasure a temperature of the resistors; and the battery controller isfurther configured to control the balancing unit to perform thebalancing on the cells in response to the measured temperature beingless than a predetermined temperature.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the battery controller is further configured to: detect a stateof charge of the battery in response to the time controller waking upthe battery controller.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, furthercomprising: a voltage measurer configured to measure an open circuitvoltage of the battery, wherein the battery controller is configured todetect the state of charge of the battery based on the measured opencircuit voltage.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the batterycontroller is further configured to: detect a state of health of thebattery in response to the time controller waking up the batterycontroller.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising: aresistance measurer configured to measure an internal resistance of thebattery, wherein the battery controller is configured to detect thestate of health of the battery based on the measured internalresistance.
 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the battery controlleris further configured to: store information of the control of thebattery.
 16. An operating method of a battery managing apparatus, themethod comprising: determining, by a battery controller of the hardwarebattery managing apparatus, a time when a battery enters a steady statebased on a charge and discharge current of the battery that is measuredin response to a switching of a charge and discharge circuit connectedto the battery; setting, by the battery controller, a period of timeduring which the battery managing apparatus is woken up based on thetime when the battery enters the steady state, the battery managingapparatus being controlled based on the switching of the charge anddischarge circuit; and controlling, by the battery controller, thebattery in response to the battery managing apparatus being woken up.17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: measuring, by thebattery controller, the charge and discharge current of the battery at atime when a switch of the charge and discharge circuit is turned off orimmediately prior to the switch being turned off.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the controlling comprises: measuring voltages of cellscomprised in the battery; and performing balancing on the cells based onthe measured voltages.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein thecontrolling comprises: measuring an open circuit voltage of the battery;and detecting a state of charge of the battery based on the measuredopen circuit voltage.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein thecontrolling comprises: measuring an internal resistance of the battery;and detecting a state of health of the battery based on the measuredinternal resistance.